Our 2020 Annual Report

Professor Gloria Gaggioli, a renowned scholar in international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights, became the Director of the Geneva Academy in August 2020, replacing Professor Marco Sassòli who led the institution during two intense and productive years.

In this role, Professor Gaggioli provides vision and guidance to anchor the Geneva Academy as a centre for academic excellence that provides high-quality education, training and research in branches of international law that relate to situations of armed conflict, protracted violence and protection of human rights.

Our Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict and its short courses are now also open to practitioners in the field interested in following this part-time programme online.

For the 2020–2021 academic year, 26 professionals based in Australia, Azerbaijan, Benin, Cambodia, Canada, Colombia, Georgia, India, Kenya, Palestine, Peru, Syria, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States chose this option. Journalists, humanitarians, field delegates or legal advisers, they work for the Danish Refugee Council, the ICRC, MINUSCA, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Ukraine, the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism and the UN in Syria.

Via a multi-disciplinary approach that takes into consideration the interrelated technical, military, ethical, policy, legal and humanitarian aspects, this new research – carried out jointly with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) – assesses the continued relevance of international law, especially IHL, in light of the humanitarian consequences and protection needs caused by the digitalization of armed conflicts.

According to the ICRC, 60 to 80 million people live under the direct state-like governance of armed non-state actors (ANSAs).

As a leading research institution for this issue, our new research – funded by UK Research and Innovation and carried out in collaboration with Geneva Call, the American University in Cairo and the Norwegian Refugee Council – examines ANSAs’ practice and interpretation of core IHL norms.

Time is running out to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and leave no one behind. Practitioners and experts recognize the key role that human rights play in furthering the implementation of the SDGs and creating a much-needed accountability framework.

Our dedicated training course and our new practical manual on this issue outline the key role of United Nations human rights mechanisms and the guidance they provide in monitoring the implementation of the SDGs that seek to realize economic, social and cultural rights, such as the rights to food, water, health, education and housing.

Since 2015, we have been one of the key actors in this process, providing both substantial inputs to improve the work of UN treaty bodies (TBs) as well as a platform for discussion among academics, civil society, states, UN staff and TB experts.

In the final stages of this review, our Geneva Human Rights Platform (GHRP) submitted a number of concrete and easily implementable proposals and continued to provide a neutral space for discussion – a key role recognized and appreciated by all the stakeholders involved.